Ghosting
by Gemini14
Summary: Weiss Kreuz/Yu Yu Hakusho Crossover. The Weiss boys find a teenager in an alley, beaten and left to die. What impact would this young man's shrouded past have on them as he tries to find it? Is he really what he seems? Be kind in the reviews, please!
1. Chapter One

Ghosting

Chapter One

It was almost dawn; in fact, it was the hour before dawn. A young man, who appeared to be only fifteen years old, lay huddled in the corner of an alleyway, slumped over like a broken doll. He would have gone completely unnoticed, were it not for the occasional shuddering breath and his constant, convulsive shivering. He was unaware that four men were on their way home, using the same alley as a shortcut through the darkness. 

"Well, at least that mission went without a hitch." One said, as he eyed his bloodied clothes disdainfully. 

"It would have gone even better, if you hadn't tried to get our target's phone number beforehand." Another grumbled, moodily. The first man muttered something unsavory under his breath and continued walking, nearly tripping over the prone form of the young man.

"What the hell?!" the first man yelped, as his fellows joined him and looked down. At first, the four men stared at the youth in silence. Then they all turned to the youngest of their number.

"Do you know who he is?" the second man asked.

"Nope. Never seen him before. He sorta looks like you, though, Abyssinian." The youngest replied, when he used his flashlight and too a good look at the youth. 

"Do you have any family that we don't know about, Abyssinian?" another man asked, this one barely older than the youngest.

"Only my sister." Abyssinian replied, as he kneeled down and checked the young man for any identification. 

"Anything on him?" the first asked.

"Nothing." Abyssinian replied, as he went to stand back up.

"What are we going to do? We can't just leave him here." The other young one asked, his cerulean eyes a little concerned. 

"Yet we can't take him back with us, either. Persia and Manx would have our hides." The first said, shuddering when he thought of the dressing down they would get if they brought the youth back with them like some foundling kitten. 

"Well, I don't care what they say. We wouldn't be any better than the ones who left him here if we ignore him. Better us finding him than that other group." The other young man said, knowing that he was understood when he'd mentioned the 'other group'.

"Fine then. We'll take that chance. But who's carrying him?" Abyssinian asked.

"Not me." the youngest said.

"Don't look at me." the first muttered.

"I'll carry him." The second young man said, as he gently eased the youth off of the ground, surprised by how light the youth was. 

"Now, let's get home. We don't have much time before daylight." Abyssinian said, as he led the way back to their home.

When the youth next opened his eyes, he was in an unfamiliar room. Then he sighed when he felt the comforting warmth of the blankets that were on top of him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt warm and safe. But, then again, he couldn't remember if he'd ever been warm and safe!

"So the kid has finally decided to wake up! How do you feel?" a man's voice asked, as the owner walked into view. 

"Tired. Where am I?" the youth asked. 

"My apartment; for the moment, anyway. What's your name, kid?" the man asked, as he casually leaned on a wall, facing the youth.

"I………………..I don't know………………" the youth said, his face paling when he realized that he couldn't even remember his own name! The man immediately did a face fault. 

"You can't remember?!" the man asked. The youth nodded, miserably.

"Great, we'd brought home an amnesiac!" the man muttered, sarcastically. As the man continued to rant and rave, the youth tried to piece his shattered memories back together. Just who was he? How had he come to be here? Yet he seemed to remember something about a fox…………………

"Wait……..there is something…….." the youth murmured, as he came out of his thoughts.

"Oh? What might that be?" the man asked, breaking his tirade off abruptly. 

"A name………….I think………." The youth replied, uncertainly.

"And what name might that be, kid?" the man asked.

"Kurama." The youth replied, quietly. 

"Kurama?" Ran asked, as Youji recounted what had been said between him and their guest.

"Yeah. Sort of an odd name for a kid, though." Youji said, puffing on a cigarette while Ken worked on getting the shop locked up for the night. 

"Why do you say that?" Omi asked, curiosity lighting his sapphire eyes.

"Well, from what I remember from a mythology course I took back in college, Kurama was the name of a particularly sly kitsune. I'm on the assumption that 'Kurama' is only a nickname." Youji said, as he leaned back in his chair.

"And the great detective is on the case." Ken muttered, sarcastically, in the background.

"Shut up, Hidaka, or you will wish you had remained in that burning warehouse." Youji grumbled. Aya, who had been listening quietly, merely shook her head and laughed. 

"Well, it's almost time to go. Can you take care of him while we're out, Aya-chan?" Omi asked.

"Sure thing, no problem!" Aya said, brightly. 

"All right, then. See you later." Ran said, before he and his compatriots disappeared into the depths of the Underworld.

"Be careful, minna." Aya murmured, knowing that long hours waited for her.

Kurama moaned as he struggled in his sleep. Nightmares swirled around, bringing shadows and phantoms into his mind.

"No………………Leave me alone…………….no……….." Kurama groaned.

"_Remember_…………………" a voice whispered, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Remember what?! What is there that I need to remember?!" Kurama shouted, at the voice.

"_Remember_…………………" the voice hissed, before his dream self turned to face something that looked human, but definitely wasn't. His eyes widened in fear as the creature smiled, revealing that it had fangs. 

"No! Help! Get away!" Kurama screamed, bolting upright, his body covered in sweat.

"Whoa! Calm down! You've just had a nightmare!" a girl's voice said, gently. Reacting to the voice, Kurama looked at the speaker. She was slightly older than him, had shoulder length dark brown hair and soft lavender eyes.

"Who are you?" Kurama asked.

"My name's Fujimiya Aya, but everybody here calls me 'Aya-chan'. You must be the Kurama Youji-san was talking about." The girl said, smiling slightly. 

"Is Youji the man that was in here a little while ago?" Kurama asked. Aya nodded.

"Youji-san, Ken-san, Omi-san and my brother brought you back when they were returning from their night job." Aya said, noticing how much Kurama looked like her elder brother. 

"What is your brother's name?" Kurama asked.

"My brother's name if Fujimiya Ran. He's a bit grouchy and belligerent, but I guess he's all right." Aya said, as Kurama chuckled and shook his head.

"That description sounds like someone I know………….or knew………..or should have known…………….I don't know……….." Kurama said, frustrated with himself.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure it will come back to you. Now, get some rest. I'll be right here in case you have any more nightmares." Aya said, as she gently pressed down on his chest, taking care not to bump his ribs that were, Kurama noticed, extremely sore, for some reason.

"Thank you, Aya-san." Kurama murmured, tiredly.

"No problem. Pleasant dreams, Kurama-san." Aya said, as Kurama drifted back off to sleep. For the rest of the night, Kurama's dreams were filled with pleasant images, some of them familiar. 

"_Maybe someday I'll figure it out._" Kurama thought, as he enjoyed the warmth and familiarity he felt from the dreams.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Several days passed, and Kurama found that he could move around without much pain. It had finally been established that Kurama would stay with Ran and Aya, since Aya was already thinking of the younger redhead as a little brother. 

"Kurama-san, are you sure you can't remember anything about who you were before?" Aya asked, one morning as the flower shop opened. Kurama shook his head.

"I don't remember anything. I can't even be certain that Kurama is my real name." Kurama replied, chuckling when Ken dodged the influx of girls. 

"Well, don't worry about it. You'll always have a home here, if nothing else." Aya said, as she handed Kurama some roses to arrange into a bouquet. As he gazed at the roses, something that resembled a memory slipped through his mind; the faintest of images.

"Rose Whip……………." Kurama whispered, flinching when he pricked his finger on a thorn and saw his blood well up from the wound. 

"Kurama-san?" Aya asked, noticing the distant look in Kurama's emerald green eyes. 

"Huh?! Oh! Sorry, Aya-san! I got distracted!" Kurama said, startled back into reality.

"That's okay, but your finger is bleeding." Aya said, stating the fact. Kurama looked at his finger again.

"So it is. I'll go and get a bandage for this, then I will be right back." Kurama said, as he left the unfinished arrangement on the counter. 

"That was weird…………." Ken said, as he watched Kurama disappear into the back.

"Yeah, it's like he was another person for a second." Omi agreed.

"I wonder what crossed his mind just now." Aya said, speaking her thoughts aloud. 

"Whatever it is, Kurama can deal with it. He's stronger than he appears. Now, let's get back to work before the larger crowd comes in." Ran said, trying to get back to business.

"Whatever you say, Ran-sama!" Youji teased, getting the patented Heero Yuy 'Omae o Korosu' look from Ran for a response. Aya sighed and shook her head; there was no end to the constant exchange of dirty looks between her brother and the womanizing Youji Kudou. 

Kurama shuddered as he splashed cold water onto his face. Just what was wrong with him? What had happened in the shop just now? He winced when a slight twinge of pain went through his ribcage.

"_Maybe I should have rested today_…………….." Kurama thought, as he leaned on the sink till he could get his breath back. When he looked up to look at his face in the mirror, he was shocked when he didn't see his own reflection. Instead he saw the image of a white haired man looking back at him with cold golden eyes. Fox-like ears perched on top of the stranger's head, taking in every sound. 

"The creature from my dream…………….." Kurama whispered, fearfully, as he backed away from the mirror, only to see the figure comes out of the mirror towards him. 

"_Remember_………………." The figure whispered, as it floated towards him. Kurama found that he couldn't move. He stared wide-eyed as the figure came up to him and caressed his face almost gently.

"_Remember_………………" the figure whispered again, as its lips curled up into a slight, fanged smile.

"R-remember what?" Kurama whimpered.

"_Remember_…………….._that you and I are one. I am you, and you are me. We are Kurama._" The creature said, before fading away. When the apparition had gone, Kurama collapsed to his knees.

"Kurama-san! What's wrong?!" Aya asked, as she, Omi and Ran entered the room and saw Kurama on the floor.

"I…………….I saw it again………….." Kurama murmured, trembling slightly.

"What? What did you see?" Ran asked, as he gently, yet firmly, grasped Kurama's shoulders.

"I saw…………….I can't explain it………….without sounding like I am going crazy…………….but I saw the kitsune Kurama………..the one I was named after…….just now." Kurama said, his emerald eyes troubled.

"Damn, now he's seeing demons in the bathroom……………" Youji muttered, as he muttered something under his breath about schizophrenics and amnesiacs.

"I may be an amnesiac, but I am not crazy. Please believe me." Kurama said, softly.

"We believe you, Kurama. Do you feel up to working any more today?" Ken asked.

"I'd be willing to do anything, if I could just forget what had just occurred in here." Kurama said, as he shakily got back to his feet and walked out of the room with Omi and Aya.

"I think Schwartz may be on to us. If Kurama has special abilities, they are going to want to take him from us to use for their own devices or make him go crazy so we can't have him. Ken, I hate to say it, but I've got a very bad feeling about this." Ran said, as he looked at the bathroom mirror with a haunted look in his lavender eyes.

"I know. I feel the same way." Ken agreed, grimly. 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"But where could he have gone?" Kurama's mother asked, for the hundredth time that morning.

"That's what we're trying to figure out. The whole idea of Kurama running away is stupid." Kuwabara said, giving Hiei a dirty look when the latter muttered something about his intelligence (or lack thereof).

"_And it isn't like him to go and try to take down something on his own. Just what exactly happened?_" Hiei wondered, watching as Yusuke tried to keep his temper under control. Ever since they had heard about Kurama's disappearance, they had been combing the area for clues. What bothered them was the complete lack of clues around or near their usual haunts. The only thing they had found that resembled a clue was a strand of red hair that had some blood on it.

"But we can't tell who's hair that was. Botan might know, but she's been too busy in Reikai lately to help search for Kurama." Yusuke muttered, moodily, as they left the Minamino residence. 

"Then that means we will have to search the rest of the city, one section at a time." Hiei said, calmly.

"Easier said than done, Hiei. You forget that Tokyo is too huge a city to search like that." Yusuke said, as they passed by a flower shop that was filled with girls.

"I wonder why girls like flowers so much?" Kuwabara asked, as girls milled around, waiting for a chance to get inside.

"Dunno." Yusuke replied, not even giving the crowd a second glance as he passed.

"If you're not going to buy anything, then get out!" a man's voice shouted, from inside. Not that it fazed any of the female groupies inside or outside of the establishment. It was then that Hiei sensed a hint of Kurama's presence inside the flower shop.

"_Could he really be in there? In that mess?_" Hiei wondered, then cursed his short stature. He couldn't see over the girls!

"_I'll just come back later._" Hiei thought, as he left the scene.

Kurama sighed and flopped back into a chair. The last customer had just left, much to the relief of everyone in the shop.

"I swear, the moment those buzzards pick up the news that a new boy is working here, they swoop in, in droves! If I had been born a sorceress, I would have Dragon Slave-d them, or something!" Aya muttered, under her breath.

"If you wanted to do that, Aya-chan, then maybe you should lay off the animes for awhile." Youji said, getting whacked in the head by an airborne shoe for his troubles. 

"Or throw shoes at Youji." Omi said, snickering when Youji gave him a dirty look.

"That's enough, you two." A woman's voice said, as the owner sauntered in.

"Well, hello Manx." Youji said, getting over being miffed with Omi and putting an arm about the woman's shoulders. She shot him a venom filled glance, then looked at Kurama. 

"Who is this?" Manx asked, pointing at Kurama as though he were a disgusting object.

"That's Kurama. We found him on our way home a few nights back." Omi said.

"Why did you bring him here?" Manx asked.

"He was hurt, Manx. We couldn't just leave him in the alley." Ken said.

"Does he know about what you do at night?" Manx asked.

"Why don't you ask him?" Youji said, calmly.

"Kurama, is it? Do you know what your friends do at night?" Manx asked, leaning in towards Kurama so that she was just inches from him.

"No, I don't." Kurama replied, with some uneasiness. 

"You got your answer, Manx." Ran said, evenly. 

"Hmm…………..yet he needs to do more than just mind the shop with you boys. He needs to earn his keep." Manx said, almost sounding sinister in that remark.

"What do you mean?" Kurama asked, almost sounding afraid.

"Come with us." Manx commanded, not leaving Kurama any room to refuse. Knowing that he had no choice, Kurama followed Ran and the rest down into the Underworld. Kurama shivered as the damp darkness surrounded him. Something buried deep in his forgotten memories associated this with pain and death, but what it was, he couldn't tell. Finally, they reached a small room and all of them gathered around a TV screen. Manx popped a video in and the image of a shadow-shrouded man appeared. The man on the screen then started telling them of a crime that had happened only a week ago. As he listened, Kurama could feel something in his mind click; he knew about this case! But it was something completely different from what his friends were seeing; something far more sinister and evil. 

"Whoa, look at that guy! He looks demonic!" Youji muttered, as a picture of their target appeared before them.

"I'll have to agree. Anybody who looks that evil needs to be denied his tomorrow!" Ken said, in agreement. Then all looked at Kurama. Manx was surprised to see a calm, speculative look on Kurama's face as he stored the information in his mind.

"Well?" Manx asked.

"He needs to be taken out, at all costs." Kurama said, coolly. All of those in the room were shocked; what a change in demeanor!

"So does that mean you're in, Kurama?" Omi asked. Kurama nodded.

"_This was my case to begin with._" Kurama thought, even though he didn't know why he thought that.

"So, now you need a codename. Does Burmese sound all right to you?" Manx asked, her tone considerably less tense.

"It suits me fine." Kurama said.

"And he needs a weapon." Ken said, as he showed Kurama a few weapons that were in some cases lining a wall. Kurama looked over each one carefully, considering each one till he found one he could use; a whip that had a steel barb on the end.

"Good choice." Youji commented, impressed.

"Don't you think he needs some clothes too? I mean, we all have 'battle clothes'." Ken said, with some sarcasm in his voice. 

"I have some clothes he could wear." Omi said, volunteering something.

"I don't think he wants to wear shorts on the job, Omi." Ran said, finally contributing to the conversation. 

"I have some long pants, but they don't fit me anymore!" Omi snapped, angrily. As Omi and Ran started on a rare (emphasize the word 'rare') argument, Manx went up, grabbed some clothes from their rooms and handed them to Kurama.

"Try these on. If they don't fit, we'll find something else." Manx said. Kurama nodded, then disappeared to get dressed. Moments later, Kurama reappeared, with his new outfit. He now wore a pair of black, semi-skintight pants, skintight black shirt that had short sleeves and black boots that were tucked under the cuffs of the pants. At his belt, he had his whip clipped and coiled, like a dormant leather snake. In one arm, he had a thigh length black jacket that had ornate white stitching on the sleeves. 

"Wow, what a transformation." Youji muttered.

"I'll say. Welcome to Weiss, Burmese." Ken said, as he extended a hand to the newest member of their group. 

"I will do my best to be worthy of your trust." Kurama said, as he shook Ken's hand.

"Now to tell you our codenames; I'm Bombay, Youji is Balinese, Ken's name is Siberian, and Ran is Abyssinian." Omi said, making sure that Kurama knew the essentials for the group. 

"Now, the time has come to go to work." Ran said, as he picked up his katana and disappeared into the next room. The other three did the same. Twenty minutes later, the rest of Weiss was dressed and ready for action. 

"Good luck, boys." Manx said, as she watched them all leave together for the darkness of the streets. 


End file.
